War & Peace Podnotes, A Study Guide

We now get taken from March of 1806, through the warmer months and then to the end of the year.  Quite the fast-forward! This chapter provides insight into the surprise loser of the duel, Feydor Dolokhov, through the Book’s closest examination of his psychology. We also get rare insight into his poor mother, Mary Ivánovna.        There is a note that the Duel remained matter of scandal. If Dolokho...

We have reached the pivotal chapter involving the death of the Little Princess and birth of the Andrei’s son. Andrei was the one thought lost. Yet Tolstoy has him return home as his wife endures child labor.  Her suffering is a subject personal to Tolstoy as his own mother succumbed five months after the birth of his sister, when Tolstoy was nearly two years old.   This loss can be viewed as a pun...

We move further into March of 1806 and return to Bald Hills, the estate of Andrei’s father.  Despite letters and official inquiries, Andrei’s body had not been found nor was he on the list of prisoners.  The newspapers had reported the defeat at Austerlitz in brief and vague terms -- after months of detailing a series of optimistic and brilliant engagements.  Nikolai was able to read between the l...

This episode examines some likely influences in Tolstoy’s writing of the Duel between Pierre & Dolokhov. Dueling is a romanticized part of aristocratic life that stemmed from Western Europe, where the precursor were the jousts and mêlées of medieval knights. With the later development of militaries, there were where occasions were tribunals & commanders could order disputing officers to fi...

Pierre wins the Duel and thereafter cannot stand to be in the presence of his wife. The night after the conflict he avoids the marital bedroom in preference of his late father’s room. Pierre desires to fall asleep and forget all. Yet a storm of emotions prevents any rest.  Pierre relives his rash decision to marry, which he now realizes would inevitably lead to dreadful consequences. He acknowledg...

This chapter involves Tolstoy’s craftsmanship of one of the most famous duels in fiction. It starts with Captain Denísov announcing the formalities and giving a vigorous countdown. On the count of three, each can advance and fire their one shot before reaching sabres that marked ten paces from the other. Dolokhov walked calmly without raising his pistol. He donned a wry smile and looked intently a...

After Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury in late 2024 for the heavyweight championship, the Ukrainian boxer held up a sabre that once belonged to the 17th Century Ukrainian Cossack Hetman,  Ivan Mapeza, who this episode is dedicated to.     Usyk’s fortitude spoke to Ukraine’s resilience against a larger foe who initiated the type of vainglorious War Tolstoy condemns, with all of his soul, in W&amp...

Pierre was stewing over his wife’s perceived infidelity with Dolokhov, who was sitting right across from him at the celebration for Bagration. As too often of late, Pierre was a glutton - eating and drinking in excess. He sensed what marrying into the Kuragin family would devolve into -- but could not resist that Siren’s call of Hélène.   Pierre’s suspicions were roused by rumor as well as an anon...

Tolstoy addresses how divided opinions persist through the ages. There will be a prominent crisis grabbing Your attention where every opinion under the sun is stated.  He posits there is a perception afforded to a select few people involved in whatever conflict is at hand.  There will naturally be some who get close to an accurate prediction of how a matter turns out and are often mistaken with be...

The magnificent banquet honoring General Bagration was held in Moscow on March 3, 1806 at the English Club, a great marble hall with a series of smaller saloons. This celebration is remembered for its fervor amidst defeat.  A source Tolstoy used for this was the first-hand account by the English writer & diplomat, Robert Ker Porter, who ironically notes that by 1806, there were not three Engli...

On his return as a lieutenant in a fancy military jacket laced with silver as well as possessing a St. George’s Cross for bravery, Nicholas is treated magnificently. Nicholas gets used to it and develops an ego that leaves him open to being taken advantage of. The finances of his aristocratic family are brought out, noting how his affable father, Ilya, was bestowing a trove on his Prodigal son, as...

We are brought to early 1806, where Tolstoy uses Nicholas and Denisov to transition the story to Peace.  Rostov has went from witnessing Czar Alexander crying under a tree near Austerlitz to returning to his Moscow estate. This chapter addresses his warm embrace. Nicholas was traveling with Denisov, who is partially based on the literary Hussar, Dennis Davydov. Rostov persuaded Denisov to accompan...

This is part 2 of 3 on Tolstoy’s 2nd Sevastopol Sketch, which focuses on May of 1855 and declares the ineffable value of Truth as hero. I’m presenting this episode after covering Austerlitz, a conflict symbolic of the vain pursuits of rulers.  Further, similar to the result of Austerlitz, the Crimean War was a extraordinary humiliation for Russia that forced societal change.  This sketch also cont...

Andrei lies moaning from a head wound on the Pratzen Heights, symbolic of the numerous souls dead or wounded.   The depiction of Andrei chasing military glory but falling short, was influenced by how Kutuzov historically lost his son-in-law, Theodor von Tiesenhausen, at Austerlitz.   Kutuzov sent the young noble, who served as an  aide-de-camp , to rally retreating troops. After Tiesenhausen seize...

This project is approaching the final chapter of Book I, a critical juncture with Napoleon victorious and holding the greatest reputation man can bestow. Even after Napoleon suffered a string of defeats years later, his reputation was colossal when Tolstoy wrote War &Peace.  Many readers coming to this book do not realize Napoleon is something of a dark force utilized to portray how to view th...

This pivotal short section depicts one of the iconic episodes of Austerlitz, namely retreating Russian forces falling through ice amidst an artillery barrage. French General Adolphe Marbot provided a contemporary report on this phenomenon and Czar Alexander appears to have relayed to his inner circle, years later in 1814, that he watched helplessly as thousands of his men perish in the frozen wate...

This episode explores the background of the Czar reduced to tears after the Battle of Austerlitz.  Many readers know little of the ruler Nicholas Rostov and countless officers were so devoted to. Over the last few years, you may have watched Ridley Scott’s film “Napoleon.” I argue that the casting of Alexandr embraces a view of the filmmaker that aligns with the perception the fictional Nicholas h...

Nicholas continues on his mission looking for Kutuzov or the Emperor. He notices broken carriages along the roads and hordes of troops in worsening levels of disorganization. Many are wounded. He reaches an area safe from cannon fire coming from the Pratzen Heights and slows to realize that there is no point to what he is doing. He has nothing of import to convey to the Tsar or to Kutuzov, should...

Tolstoy hardly ends the novel with the revelation imparted to Andrei. Instead, it continues for another 1000 pages, in substantial part, exploring the triviality so paramount to those without such vision.  The story moves back to earth to focus on the historic disgrace for Alexandr and Francis. It is entirely the opposite for Napoleon, who came out on top of The Battle of Three Emperors .  Yet the...

Tolstoy brings you back from Andrei’s spiritual revelation to focus on Nicholas Rostov, who is imbued with the Confidence of Youth.   General Bagratión had assented to Rostov’s request to be brought off the reserve line and selected him for a fool’s errand – as Bagratión is presented as understanding the futility of the attack. This is in contrast to Prince Dolgorúkov, part of Alexandr’s inner cir...

This paramount chapter involves Tolstoy using Andrei to grasp the transcendence of the Almighty God which the author revered. More particularly, when Andrei takes in the vastness of the sky, Tolstoy conveys the vulgarity of this earth compared with His infinite nature. Further, Tolstoy lays bare the senselessness of war for most of the men shooting and hacking each other. There will be a depiction...

Tolstoy affirms that only the will of the Deity, who is not dependent on time, can make sense of any monumental event or series of events. Tolstoy acknowledges his belief in an omnipotent God, who determines the Way. This majestic being is something we can never come close to understanding. Even the most renowned, like Napoleon, cannot veer humanity in the direction they intend. This is because ma...

At 8 a.m. Kutuzov rode towards Pratzen Village. He took command of a regiment he came across and led it into the Village. The other columns were advancing towards a massive valley, where the battle was picking up.  Andrei, who was among Kutuzov’s suite, was in a state of constrained excitement.  He was convinced this day would be his Toulon , the battle that made Napoleon. Andrei’s motivation to b...

 The doomed advance commenced around 5 a.m., when still quite dark. The idea was for General Bagration’s left flank to initiate the attack on the French right flank and drive the enemy into the mountains.  Officers were hurriedly drinking tea and eating a decent breakfast while buttoning their coats and buckling their swords. Battalion and regimental commanders, along with their adjuncts, mounted...

In the early morning hours of December 2nd, 1805, Rostov was patrolling the skirmishing line near Bagration’s detachment. Behind him he could see his army’s campfires glowing. In front the French were covered by misty darkness. Rostov was exhausted. His eyes would close and his fancy appeared—now the Emperor, then Denísov or whirling Moscow memories. His hussar companion occasionally alerted him t...